RTX FOR UNDER $940

Intel 13th Gen Nvidia 40-series at a bargain price

WHETHER YOU’RE deciding to upgrade your setup or start afresh, choosing between high-spec last-generation components or current-generation future-proof parts can be tough. We wanted to follow the latter path while also staying under the $1,000 mark. With this in mind, we kicked things off with the cheapest 13th generation desktop CPU offering from Intel, the i3-13100F. As we also want to use a dedicated graphics card, we went for the F variant without the integrated Intel graphics to save money. After all, you’re going to want some snacks on your desk too, right?

Anyway, this humble i3-13100F does sit at the bottom of the hierarchy for Intel’s desktop CPU lineup. However, we’re giving it a chance to see if it’s worth entering the 13th gen Intel-sphere via this route or if you should opt for a higher spec. It’s a quad-core chip, and focuses all of these cores on performance, unlike other Raptor Lake CPUs that have a hybrid architecture, combining performance and efficient cores. At $109, it’s an affordable gateway into the latest tech from Intel, comes with a stock cooler, and should pair well with our chosen GPU for 1080p gaming.

Seeing as we have chosen the cheapest Intel 13th gen chip, how about applying that thinking to the graphics card? We’ve gone with an RTX 4060, specifically the MSI Ventus 2X Black OC GPU. At a cent less than $300, we can get the latest generation of CPU and GPU for just over $400, leaving us with nearly $600 to play with.